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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. lie — to recline
  4. board — a committee
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. board — to get on
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. ground — a position
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com